Rainforests

What does World Chocolate Day mean to Gola?

2019-07-07T08:00:00Z

For most World Chocolate Day is just an excuse to eat a lot of chocolate. But this year we are asking people to think about the impact our love of chocolate has on the world.

We’ve been told about the impact palm oil has on Indonesian rainforests and the impact intensive beef farming has on our climate. But when standing in the confectionery aisle at the supermarket have you ever stopped to think about the environmental impact of cocoa? Probably not.

Traditionally, cocoa is grown at low intensity under the shade of forest trees. In this way the environmental impact is low. But, to keep up with our insatiable demand for cheap chocolate, cocoa farming has evolved and new varieties of cocoa trees have been developed that can be grown in full-sun plantations. Forest trees go from being important protectors of the cocoa tree, to taking up space where a cocoa tree could be. The result has been vast deforestation to accommodate cocoa farm expansion.

Most of the chocolate we eat is grown in West Africa, where millions of hectares of primary forest has already been lost to cocoa farming, and deforestation rates continue to rise. Some studies even suggest that, because of the deforestation associated with cocoa farming, the carbon footprint of chocolate can be higher than that of lower intensity beef and lamb production.

The good news is there is forest-friendly chocolate too – like the RSPB’s Gola Rainforest Chocolate bar.

The RSPB has been working within in the Greater Gola Landscape in Sierra Leone and Liberia for 30 years, working with local partners towards the sustainable management of a critically important area of rainforest and the support of forest-edge communities. One component of this has been the development of a forest-friendly cocoa business.

The Gola landscape is made up of a mosaic of different areas including protected rainforest (National Parks and Forest Reserves), primary rainforest which is owned by local communities, villages, subsistence farmland and cocoa farms.

For the landscape to function as an ecosystem, the areas of protected forest and community forest need not only to be protected, but also connected, allowing wildlife to move throughout the landscape. Cocoa farms are one way in which this can be done, provided it is grown in the traditional way under the forest canopy. When grown in this way, cocoa farms provide forest-like habitat which can support forest biodiversity and provide corridors of habitat between the areas of high-quality rainforest. In Gola we have identified 130 species of birds using the cocoa farms, including the globally endangered brown-cheeked hornbill and yellow-casqued hornbill, as well as UK wood warblers who spend the winter in Liberia.

But this environmentally-friendly way of farming is only sustainable if the farmers are rewarded financially for doing so. There needs to be an economic incentive for them to keep the forest standing and not convert to full-sun farming where they would be able to grow more cocoa.

Currently there are no price premiums attached to forest-friendly, sustainable cocoa. So, the Gola partnership has been working with farmers to improve their quality and yield of cocoa in order to negotiate a higher price on a case by case basis with buyers. We are also helping the farmers obtain Fairtrade and Organic certification, in order to gain access to the price premiums that are currently available. But this isn’t enough, consumers must acknowledge the need for rewarding forest-friendly farmers for the role they play in actively conserving rainforests and globally threatened wildlife. So, our next phase of work will involve defining and communicating what forest-friendly cocoa really means and why we should care more about where our next mouthful of chocolate comes from.

In the meantime, you can celebrate World Chocolate Day (almost) guilt-free with us by enjoying some delicious Gola Rainforest chocolate available at your local RSPB shop or online.

Happy New Year and happy hippos!

2019-01-03T11:56:00Z

Happy New Year!

The Gola Rainforest team were treated to a special present this Christmas when they collected up all the camera traps and found they had recorded loads of footage of pygmy hippos.

community.rspb.org.uk/.../8015.compressed-video-1.mp4

The videos are helping us unlock some of the secrets about what these secretive creatures get up to under the cover of the forest. We are learning more and more about their feeding habits and preferred areas of the forest.

The video below was particularly surprising as we don’t often see the hippos active in the middle of the day. We are learning new things every time we download new videos. I can’t wait to see what we find in 2019.

community.rspb.org.uk/.../0247.compressed-video-2.mp4

Deforestation and cocoa

2018-12-17T15:16:00Z

An article in the Guardian last week shared the findings of a new report which shines a light on the fact that cocoa production in West Africa continues to drive the deforestation of protected areas. Despite pledges from major chocolate manufacturers in 2017 to put an end to cocoa related deforestation, the report suggests tens of thousands of hectares of forest were cleared in 2018 for expanding cocoa production. You can read the article here:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/07/africa-cocoa-industry-failing-deforestation-pledge-campaigners

Our Gola Rainforest Project is showcasing that when done the right way, cocoa can actually work for the forest rather than against it. Find out more in this new blog from our partners at Twin:

https://www.twin.org.uk/blog/conversation-through-cocoa/

Dynasties Part 2: Tigers

2018-12-10T12:00:00Z

So, the BBC Dynasties series culminated last night with a story of a tigress in India struggling to raise her four cubs to adulthood.

The Tropical Forests team was left pondering whether it is similarly difficult for our female tigers trying to raise families in Harapan, Sumatra. The answer is, probably yes.

The critically endangered Sumatran tiger is the last surviving subspecies of Indonesian tigers; with the Balinese tiger declared extinct in the 1930s followed by the Javan tiger in the 1980s. There are less than 400 individuals in the wild today and pressure on these remaining few continues, primarily from habitat loss and poaching.

These maps show the extent of forest in Sumatra in 1900 compared to what was left by 2000. Harapan Rainforest is one of the largest remaining fragments and somewhat of a haven for endangered species like the tiger. In fact, using camera traps we have identified 34 different individuals resident in Harapan, including breeding females with cubs. This indicates that Harapan is supporting a healthy population of tigers, almost 10% of the world’s total population.

But tigers are solitary and need large territories of their own so, just as seen in the Dynasties episode, as the population in Harapan flourishes individuals may be driven out into neighbouring, unprotected lands where they are more likely to come into conflict with people.

The Harapan partnership has applied for permits to radio collar some of the tigers in Harapan to gain a better understanding of the movements of tigers in the area and establish what the risks are when they do roam outside of the concession.

BBC Dynasties – giving us insight into Gola Rainforest's chimpanzees.

2018-11-28T13:47:00Z

There’s always a buzz around the office when a new BBC Natural History documentary airs, but the Dynasties series is particularly interesting for our Tropical Forests team because it is featuring two of the most iconic species found in our Rainforests projects.

The opening episode of the series gave as an in-depth look into the trials and tribulations of life as a Western chimpanzee, the same species of chimpanzee as found in Gola Rainforest.

Western chimpanzees - from Gola Rainforest, Sierra Leone

The Western chimpanzee is found only in the forest belt of West African between Senegal and Ghana. In 2016, this subspecies of chimpanzee was reclassified to the Critically Endangered status on the IUCN red list of globally threatened species. This is just one step away from being extinct in the wild and this new status was assigned on the basis that there has been a significant decline in population over the past 50 years and because the causes of this decline continue to threaten the species.

In the Dynasties episode they mentioned the impacts of habitat loss and poaching, the two main threats to western chimpanzees across their range.

Western chimpanzees primarily live in forested areas, but across West Africa more than 70% of their forest habitat has been lost to agricultural conversion. As a result, chimpanzee populations are being squeezed into smaller and smaller fragments of forests.

Forest cover in 1923

Forest cover in 2004

Gola Rainforest National Park is a stronghold for chimpanzees, home to over 300 individuals. It’s possibly one of the only areas currently supporting a stable population, testament to the work being done by all the partners and communities to protect the forest.

Critically, the work we do at Gola Rainforest isn’t just to protect the National Park, which is legally protected from deforestation. In fact, some of the most important work is done in partnership with the communities living around the National Park. It is these community-owned lands that connect the different pockets of protected forest within the Greater Gola Landscape Area and play a vital role in allowing wildlife to pass between them. They are, in effect, supporting a landscape-scale forest ecosystem. Therefore, we are working with communities to identify areas most critical for wildlife and empowering people to farm and earn a living in ways that support wildlife connectivity and do not impact on the forest ecosystem.

Protected Areas (shown in green) in the Greater Gola Landscape Area - which straddles the Sierra Leone - Liberia border. The work delivered as part of the RSPB's Gola Rainforest Project includes working with communities in the areas that connect and surround the Protected Areas, ensuring habitat connectivity.

One of the most exciting parts of the documentary for us though was getting to see the complex social behaviour of the chimpanzees. Despite Gola having a healthy population, the chimpanzees are not habituated to people like those that were filmed for the programme. As a result, visual observations of the chimpanzees are few and far between. So, the documentary allowed us to imagine what dramas might be unfolding on a daily basis between Gola’s chimps deep within the forest.

The final episode of the Dynasties series, airing on 9^th December, will be featuring tigers. We are looking forward to seeing what comparisons we can draw from this episode with the Sumatran tigers we protect at our Hutan Harapan project in Indonesia.

An update from Harapan, Indonesia

2018-11-07T21:02:40Z

Gola isn’t the RSPB’s only Rainforest project. We are also still working at Hutan Harapan in Indonesia, home to the Sumatran tiger and Sumatran elephant, both critically endangered. (See our last blog about Harapan here: http://ww2.rspb.org.uk/community/getinvolved/b/rainforests/archive/2015/02/03/restoring-hope-in-indonesia-s-forests.aspx )

Since 2016 we have been working with our partners in Indonesia on a Darwin Initiative funded project investing in agroforestry opportunities (where agriculture is delivered in combination with forest trees) at Harapan. The objective of this project is to develop opportunities that can deliver the restoration goals we have for the rainforest at the same time as meeting the livelihood aspirations of local communities.

Check out the short clip below from Hutan Harapan where RSPB Conservation Scientist, Tom Swinfield, explains some of the work that is being done. Here he is at a demonstration plot where they are trialling different agroforestry activities and monitoring the results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiLVZK0edJM

Did you know you can support rainforest conservation through your carbon footprint?

2018-10-24T15:56:36Z

We all know we need to reduce our carbon footprint. Many of us are making an effort to use our cars less and buy locally produced goods. But for the carbon emissions you have been unable to avoid there’s still a way to make a difference – through carbon offsetting.

Have you ever thought what your annual carbon footprint might be? You can calculate it using the Stand for Trees calculator.

Offsetting your emissions by buying Gola Rainforest carbon credits not only ensures that amount of carbon remains locked in the forest, it also finances the protection of the forest from illegal activities, protects the rare and endangered wildlife that rely on the forest, and supports the Gola communities through sustainable livelihoods projects.

Once you know what your carbon footprint is you can offset your annual emissions by purchasing Gola Rainforest carbon credits here:

https://standfortrees.org/en/protect-a-forest/gola-rainforest-project-connecting-forests-people

Why carbon offset?

Like many tropical forests around the world, Gola Rainforest is under threat of deforestation through the conversion of forest into agricultural lands. For rural communities around forests, opportunities for making a living can be limited. Many farmers resort to a slash-and-burn approach, clearing forest to make room for agriculture. This is one of the factors that has led to significant deforestation of forests around the world. It is estimated around 2.3 million hectares of forest was lost in West Africa between 1988-2007 alone, largely driven by agricultural expansion.

Deforestation not only results in the loss of biodiversity and of ecosystem services, such as water regulation, soil protection and nutrient recycling, but the loss of forests also exacerbates climate change. This in turn impacts directly on the local communities and their livelihoods. Protecting forests is good for nature and good for people.

But providing sufficient funds to protect forests and support local people can be a challenge. Many important forest ecosystems are found in some of the poorest countries in the world. In countries like Sierra Leone, which are still rebuilding themselves after years of conflict, there are multiple development needs already competing for government funding. Forest protection simply cannot be a funding priority. An alternative way of financing forest protection is needed.

This is where the Gola REDD+ Project comes in. The sale of certified carbon credits generated by the National Park, fund the activities that actually safeguard the forest.

What is a REDD+ Project?

REDD, or Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, is a mechanism developed by the UN which creates a financial value for the carbon stored in forests. REDD+ goes beyond this and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

How does the Gola REDD+ Project work?

After years of consultation with the forest-edge communities and the Gola project partners, the National Park boundaries were mutually agreed and the Gola REDD+ project designed. A not-for-profit company, Gola Rainforest Conservation LG, was set up to manage the project. The company is an equal partnership between the Government of Sierra Leone, the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, the RSPB and (most importantly!) the communities living in the buffer area around the National Park.

The funds Sierra Leone receives from carbon sales are transparently used to finance the protection of the forest and support sustainable livelihood projects including:

farmer field schools where training is provided to improve crop yields and quality without farm expansion
community-managed loan schemes, which allow communities to buy equipment and seedlings etc
gender inclusivity training which is helping provide women with equal opportunities within the community
scholarships for secondary schools

The project was Validated and Verified in 2015 and achieved Double Gold certification after demonstrating it had directly benefited biodiversity and local livelihoods, following the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) standard.

But the impacts of the Gola REDD+ project are not just localised. Protecting the forest avoids the emission of 400,000 tonnes of carbon annually, which is equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of around 37,000 people in the UK. The project is actively contributing to global climate change mitigation measures by ensuring the trees remain standing.

The fact of the matter is, without the Gola REDD+ project, it is unlikely that the Gola Rainforest National Park would exist. Without the funds it generates to protect the forest, Gola would be fighting a losing battle against other revenue-generating activities competing to use the land, including agriculture, mining and timber forestry. The REDD+ project is giving the forest value to Sierra Leone, providing the wildlife with a safe haven and empowering local communities to be guardians of this precious resource.

How you can contribute?

So check out the Stand for Trees calculator and see how much it would take to offset your annual carbon emissions.

Or think about doing one of the following:

offset your carbon footprint next time you go on holiday
ask your guests for carbon donations to make your wedding carbon neutral
if you are hosting an event, suggest the attendees offset their travel

Let us know your ideas for carbon offsetting.

Even small amounts can make a big difference for Gola Rainforest.

International Day for Rural Women - gender equality in the Gola Rainforest Project

2018-10-12T22:28:37Z

On Monday people around the world will be acknowledging International Day of Rural Women.

Established by the UN, it is a day set aside to recognise “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”

According to the UN, women make up around 40% of the agricultural workforce globally. Women also tend to make decisions about resource use and investments that are in the best interest and welfare of their children, families, and communities. This makes women crucial in the delivery of global sustainability and climate change mitigation measures.

However, in many cases women have limited access to land ownership, financing and education, meaning that their contributions are under-represented.

The Gola Rainforest Project is working to reduce gender-based inequalities throughout the project area. This involves working at a range of levels, from the individual household to within business cooperatives, using the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) approach.

Aminata Berewa - Gender Specialist - Gola Rainforest Cocoa Project

The purpose of the GALS approach is to address gender imbalances that impede women’s ability to own assets, influence decision-making, participate in activities outside of the home and control incomes and expenditure. It is a community-driven process, involving both men and women, and a wide variety of activities aimed at making gender equality the societal norm. Most of the formal training is picture-based to ensure it is accessible to everyone irrespective of their educational background. And the process is designed to be collaborative to ensure everyone feels respected and valued.

To date, 66 community members (half men, half women) have been trained as Gender Inclusivity Champions. These champions were elected by their village committees and are responsible for cascading the training concepts and activities to the rest of their community.

Another initiative of the project has been to set up Village Savings and Loans Associations, giving individuals access to small loans to help pre-finance businesses. To date, 273 people have registered with the loans scheme, half of which have been women. By applying for investment for their own business ventures, this allows women to contribute independently to the income generation in their household and empowers them to have a say in how that income is spent.

The project has also established leadership development training for future women leaders, which is providing women with the knowledge, confidence and skills necessary to participate in community-based decision making. As a result, the percentage of women in leadership positions in the community farmer associations has increased to 29%, which is significant considering the total percentage of women farmers is only 22%. It is noticeable that women are participating more significantly in community discussions now and their valuable contributions to society are being recognised.

Female cocoa farmers participating in leadership training for future female leaders

Without the empowerment of the Gola women we would not be able to achieve the conservation goals we are aiming for in the Greater Gola Landscape.

Case Studies

Ms Juma Koroma: GACFA Farmer Association Treasurer and Chairlady of her village.

“I used to sell cocoa to other traders in the area. Traders would often cheat us; they never allowed the scales to face me, so I couldn’t see the weight of my cocoa and had no idea what price I should expect. I have now learnt to read the scales myself and know what I deserve for my cocoa.”

Mrs Hawa Daramy: Gender Inclusivity Champion

“Through the Gender training I learnt how to manage a business for profit maximisation…I have been able to extend (my farm) to 15 acres. Another thing I learned was diversifying in term of income generation for greater security over the year. In total I have trained nine new members, three from my household, three from the cocoa group and three non-members. The individuals adopted the concept and they are in return training their household members.”

It's International Chocolate Day - seems like the perfect excuse to eat Gola Chocolate?!

2018-09-13T18:02:13Z

It’s International Chocolate Day! Did you know that one of our fastest growing projects in Gola is our work on rainforest-friendly cocoa production? In fact, in early 2019 we will be launching our very own chocolate bar made from cocoa grown within the Greater Gola forest area.

Commodities like cocoa can, in some cases, be drivers of deforestation, with areas of tropical forest being cleared to grow plantations of cocoa trees in order to meet demand across the world. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, cocoa grows best when surrounded by the shade of the other trees, the rainforest itself protecting the cocoa from the harsh sun and providing nutrients through the soil.

The Gola project is supporting cocoa farmers in the forest-edge communities to improve the quality and yield of their forest-grown cocoa, in order that they can generate a reliable income without having to encroach on the rainforest. At the same time, we are conducting research to show that cocoa grown in this way supports important forest biodiversity, including birds and primates, and can play a vital role in providing wildlife corridors between fragments of primary rainforest. Our ambition is for Gola farmers to be rewarded for growing cocoa in a forest-friendly way through the growth of a premium chocolate market which acknowledges the value of rainforest guardians like these Gola communities.

One of the ways we are hoping to get this message out there is through the development of an RSPB Gola Chocolate bar. I have had the really hard (‘cough’) job of working with chocolate makers around the UK to develop a recipe that showcases the unique flavour of Gola cocoa. This week, to celebrate International Chocolate Day, I decided to share the chocolate love and gave my colleagues a chance to sample some Gola chocolate for themselves.

In a potentially risky move, I set up a table with 8 unlabelled samples, 4 milk chocolate and 4 dark, which included 2 Gola samples (one of each flavour). I asked people to taste the samples and then vote for the ones they liked best. I am very relieved to say that the Gola chocolate proved extremely popular, with our Director of Conservation, Martin Harper, picking out the Gola milk chocolate sample as ‘Best in Show’. Now you can’t really get any better than that!

We are putting the finishing touches on the chocolate recipe this month and are hoping to have bars to share with you all in RSPB shops, online and in the catalogue from January. I’ll leave you to salivate over that for now, but if you would like to find out more about the Cocoa Project you can contact the team on GolaCocoa@rspb.org.uk.

The value of camera traps for research in the Gola Rainforest

2018-09-03T18:13:01Z

Camera traps, or remotely activated cameras, are used the world over for monitoring wildlife because they are a non-invasive and cost-effective method of collecting continuous sampling data. Camera traps are particularly useful in a forest environment where animals tend to be secretive in nature and the sheer density of vegetation makes it difficult to see anything further than a few metres away.

The Gola team have been using camera traps for a number of years now, the results are combined with other data (such as nest surveys and community questionnaires) to help build a map of where different species are found within the forest. This allows us to target conservation activities in the right places.

One of the camera traps deployed in Gola Rainforest

Here is a summary of some of the key uses and findings from our camera trap work.

Threatened primates

Gola is home to a number of primate species that are of conservation concern. The population of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ssp. verus), found only in West Africa, has declined significantly over the past 50 years. This decline in population led to the western chimpanzee being re-classified in 2016, it is now considered to be critically endangered in accordance with the IUCN Red List.

Like other threatened primate species found in Gola, for example the western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius), Diana monkey (Cercopithecus diana) and sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys), chimpanzees are at high risk from poaching and habitat fragmentation, and often utilise areas of habitat both inside and outside of protected areas.

Our camera trapping data can help to identify key areas where these primates are found outside of the protection of the National Park, where different conservation approaches are needed which rely on community engagement. Photos are also useful for gathering information about primate group compositions and behaviours which can be particularly difficult to determine in the thick forest habitat.

One of our most significant findings has been that while most populations of these threatened primates are declining in the region, populations in Gola appear to be stable or increasing. These results are being shared and it is hoped that lessons learnt in Gola can help improve the prospects for primates across West Africa.

Some of the primates of conservation concern caught on camera in the Gola forest. Top row: western chimpanzee. Bottom left: sooty mangabey. Bottom right: Diana monkey

Endemic species

Many of the species that occur in the Gola Rainforest are found only in the Upper Guinea Forest Belt and therefore the conservation of their habitat is critical. With significant deforestation having occurred across Sierra Leone, in many cases the country’s entire population of these forest dependent species may now be restricted to the Gola Rainforest National Park. As such it is important to monitor the population and distribution of these species across the Park in order to spot any changes early on. Having camera traps distributed evenly across the forest is an effective way to monitor changes in species like antelope and ground-dwelling birds.

Left: Jentick’s duiker – thought to be the rarest duiker in West Africa, and endemic to the Upper Guinea Forest Belt. Middle: Zebra duiker - once widespread throughout Sierra Leone, it is believed they are now restricted to the Gola Rainforest. Right: White-breasted guineafowl - endemic to the Upper Guinea Forest, and in Sierra Leone they are only found in the Gola Rainforest.

Hard to see animals

Camera traps are particularly useful for collecting data on species that are otherwise rarely observed. This may because they are shy and well camouflaged, like the bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus), or because they are mostly active at night, like the honey badger (Mellivora capensis) and marsh mongoose (Atilax paludinosus).

Left: Bongo - notoriously shy and reclusive, this photo shows just how well camouflaged and difficult it is to spot them in their natural forest habitat. Middle: honey badger & Right: marsh mongoose – two of the Gola species that are primarily active at night, making first-hand observations uncommon.

Behavioural data

When observing wildlife, it can be difficult to accurately monitor natural behaviour because your physical presence can influence the activity to some degree. Camera traps make observations in an unobtrusive way, allowing us to collect data on a wide variety of natural behaviours such as feeding habits and social interactions. One example of where this kind of data is used is for understanding the potential risks associated with human-wildlife conflict, for example where species are believed to be crop-raiding.

Left: Red river hog – often blamed for crop-raiding, camera trap data can provide information on their foraging behaviour. Right: Caught in the act! Young chimpanzee with a cocoa pod in its mouth.

Finally, camera trap images are also great value for just giving us a laugh. Which is a value that should never be underrated.

Ogilby’s duiker taking a selfie!

Over the coming year

Thanks to a generous donation from Zoo Basel we have been able to purchase some additional camera traps which are currently on route out to Sierra Leone. These will be used as part of our pygmy hippo surveying work, which is aiming to gain better insight into these elusive animals, about which we know very little. So hopefully over the next year we will be updating you with new additions to our small collection of images of this enigmatic animal, an icon of the Gola Rainforest.

Left: new camera traps donated by Zoo Basel being packed up ready to leave for Sierra Leone. Right: some of the few clear photos we have of the elusive pygmy hippos in Gola forest.

For more information about the work going on in Gola you can check out the Gola Rainforest website at golarainforest.org

Welcoming back the 'Rainforests' blog

2018-08-21T21:47:00Z

The eagle-eyed among you will immediately notice that there haven’t been any blogs from the Rainforest team for more than three years. For this we can only apologise! After the brief suspension of activities in Gola during the Ebola outbreak that started in 2014, our work resumed in full in the summer of 2015 and the team has been busy getting back on track ever since.

Over the next few months, we’ll be sharing the latest developments and newest streams of our Rainforest work with you, but for now, here’s a little taster of some of the exciting activities that we have been developing in Gola.

Candid Camera

The field team have been working hard as ever using a variety of techniques to monitor all the different species in Gola. Camera traps are proving a particularly useful tool in the dense forest habitat.

This chimpanzee certainly isn't camera-shy!

Through funding from our partners at Zoo Basel, we have been able to invest in more cameras which this year will be used to establish the areas of forest most important for those ever-elusive pygmy hippos.

Focusing on Forest Communities

The GolaMA project in Liberia has been progressing nicely, working with the Government and local communities to sustainably manage community forest areas in ways that not only enhance their value for biodiversity but also help improve the wellbeing of the people who rely on the forest for their livelihoods.

'Lead Beekeeper' from the GolaMA project with one of his beehives.

This project is now complemented by the USAID funded WABiCC (West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change) project, which is working across both Liberia and Sierra Leone. The WABiCC project is also looking at forest friendly ways of improving community livelihoods. This approach simultaneously benefits communities, supports biodiversity, and increases forest cover in the remaining unprotected forest areas in the Greater Gola Landscape.

Going Green with Gola Cocoa

One of the priority livelihoods projects has been cocoa farming. Cocoa is a commodity that can be grown sustainably within the existing forest habitat, thus providing valuable income for farmers without the need for clearing forest. A ‘Green Cocoa’ feasibility assessment is currently underway in Liberia, and in Sierra Leone the Gola Cocoa Project is already well under development with almost 40 tonnes of forest-friendly ‘Gola Rainforest Cocoa’ having already been sold into the international market.

Gola cocoa farmers showing off their cocoa pods

The RSPB has also purchased some of the cocoa and we will be launching our own Gola Rainforest Cocoa chocolate bars in early 2019! Keep an eye on our blogs for the launch and where to buy so you don’t miss your chance to taste this special chocolate, that protects forests and empowers people, for yourself.

Gola Rainforest Chocolate Samples

Landscape-scale conservation in action

With all the projects combined, the Gola partnerships in Sierra Leone and Liberia are now working collaboratively to protect neighbouring blocks of forest habitat amounting to around 400,000ha in area.

Greater Gola Landscape project areas

There’s so much more as well, from ground-breaking research on the Gola malimbe and white-necked picathartes, to Gola Rainforest National Park becoming the first certified REDD+ project in West Africa, showing Sierra Leone’s commitment to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

We are looking forward to sharing all our stories with you, so watch this space! And don’t forget you can follow Gola Rainforest on Twitter @golarainforest.

Feedback from the field in Liberia: GolaMA project, Connecting Forest & People

2015-06-30T16:42:11Z

Below a blog written by Sorrel Jones, Field Research Advisor (RSPB) who is based in Liberia working on the GolaMA Project (funded by the European Union) which we're jointly implementing with SCNL (BirdLife Liberia). GolaMA is part of our efforts to conserve and sustainably manage the Greater Gola Landscape across Sierra Leone and Liberia. After spending close to two months in the field, Sorrel is back for a couple of days in the capital to make use of internet access, running water, electricity, but also to get a little rest:

"Over the past few weeks the GolaMA Research Team has been surveying the forest neighbouring the project communities, getting to know the local hunters, and starting to map land-use. Getting started on the field work component of a project is always exciting, and we've already had some great biodiversity highlights.

Heading up the list are two records for the endangered Gola Malimbe in forest close to settlements, presenting an exciting opportunity for us to learn more about this poorly understood species. We also now have Pygmy hippo records along two different rivers – the Mano river that comprises the border with Sierra Leone, and the slightly smaller Moa river that feeds into it. We were lucky enough to find fresh prints beside the Mano river (despite heavy rain the previous night), and along the Moa the characteristic messy dung had been sprayed over vegetation beside a path used by artisanal diamond miners.

Left: the endangered Gola malimbe (Malimbus ballmanni) (Photo (c) D.Monticelli/RSPB). Right: GolaMA/SCNL Research Technicians in the Gola forest

The presence of chimpanzees was quickly confirmed by their nests in the forests, and a couple of weeks ago I was delighted to hear them screaming and drumming on buttress roots a few kilometres from our field office itself. A local myth holds that chimpanzees like to carry turtles around to sit on, using a rock wedged in the shell to prevent them popping their heads out and wandering off. Although chimpanzees have a renowned capacity for innovative tool-use (and we'll keep an eye out for any traumatised turtles, just in case!), I suspect this is another very imaginative story!

The other forest primates are also well represented and so far we've recorded Sooty Mangabee and Spot-nosed Guenon (from the comfort of the field office!) as well as Diana monkey, Western Red Colobus, Olive Colobus, and Campbells Mona monkey. It's likely we'll soon add Black and White Colobus to the list since it is reported to be in the area, although I recently learned this species has the unfortunate distinction of being considered one of the tastier bushmeat animals, earning itself the Liberian nickname “chicken soup monkey”.

I am heading back into the field today and I'm hoping to defy the rainy season for a little longer to complete our surveys in the forest interior...always keeping our fingers crossed that those log bridges hold out! "

Left: Field Office is 8-9 hours drive from Monrovia with >30 log bridges. Right: Sorrel making morning tea at dawn from the field office before a day's work in the forest. (Both Photos (c) A.Gardner/RSPB).

We all love lists

2015-02-04T19:53:57Z

(Kapas River in Harapan Rainforest)

Lists about rainforests seem to usually be listing which countries have the greatest rate of deforestation. So it was a welcome change to read this commentary in the Jakarta Globe last week, which lists the author's three favourite conservation projects in Indonesia. Those of us involved with Harapan Rainforest know just how important it is, for the forest itself and the people and wildlife that live there, and also for the whole concept of ecosystem restoration concessions in Indonesia. So it was great to see Harapan recognised on this list - see http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/business/commentary-modifying-indonesias-conservation-methods/ for the full list and more details.

Restoring hope in Indonesia’s forests

2015-02-03T23:05:29Z

The RSPB is proud to work with our BirdLife partners to protect and restore rainforests, and to help improve the lives of the people who call these forests home. In doing so, we protect some critically endangered wildlife, and we help improve the lives and incomes of people in and around those forests, from helping provide clean water or healthcare through to helping them develop better incomes from the forests. This work isn’t easy, but is worthwhile from whatever angle you look at it, and our local project staff work incredibly hard – under extremely challenging and rapidly changing circumstances.

The Harapan Rainforest concession covers approximately 100,000 Ha of lowland Sumatran rainforest (this represents more than 25% of the what remains of this habitat globally), and retains populations of critically endangered species including Sumatran Tiger (above), Sumatran Elephant and provides important livelihoods for forest-dependent peoples.

The Guardian has today published an article based on a site visit in 2012 when the circumstances in the forest were somewhat different to those of today. The journalist who wrote this article visited Harapan Rainforest nearly two-and-a-half years ago, at the height of conflict with migrant encroacher communities claiming affiliation to Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) who had entered an area of Harapan during the previous 12-months. These were difficult times for the project, and challenges still remain in tackling one of the most pressing issues facing forest conservation in Indonesia – that of pressure for land from an ever growing human population. However, since 2012 both the rate of encroachment and incidences of conflict have decreased significantly, and the article perhaps paints a harsher picture when compared with the realities on the ground today.

It is true that deforestation in 2012 was 2,500ha (at the peak of illegal encroachment), and the government of Indonesia responded by sending police to uphold the law, and prevent further aggression against the Harapan staff. However, after this time, and partly through a long negotiation process supported by the Government, in 2013 this illegal encroachment was reduced to approximately 650ha, and in 2014 annual deforestation was approximately 1,000ha. Losing forest is never good news, but in comparison to other lowland natural forest areas in Indonesia, including those within the protection area network, these figures are low, and in fact, most of this was additional clearance in already heavily encroached areas. There has been relatively little encroachment of the core forest area.

The article is good in recognising that forest conservation in Sumatra is challenging, and shows some of the more difficult aspects of forest conservation, but the issues faced by Harapan Rainforest are in no-way unique to Harapan. Community land issues in Sumatra are a vast, complex and an on-going challenge faced by the government and all land concession holders.

Towards this end, Harapan is working to improve the livelihoods of the 400 indigenous forest-dependent families who live within the forest through, employment, housing, sanitation, healthcare, schooling and assistance with NTFPs. The project is also seeking ‘win-win’ outcomes with the encroacher communities with the aim to stop continued encroachment and to receive some economic return for them utilising land (through an agreed benefit-sharing mechanism). The first mediated agreement comprising benefit-sharing and a commitment to no deforestation has been established with one encroacher group.

There is no doubt that without the Harapan Rainforest project this area of forest would already have been cleared for oil palm or acacia (for pulp). There is also no doubt that we will still face challenges in the years to come. However, the fact that the forest mostly remains, that the wildlife is still there, and that we are finding solutions to improve the lives of the people who live within Harapan, is a testament to the hard work of the Harapan team. As is the fact that 11 other ERC licences have now been granted, covering an additional 420,000ha. It may not be easy work, but we are proud that our work at Harapan continues to give hope to forest conservation in Indonesia.

Deforestation: business as usual or a new hope?

2014-10-30T20:17:49Z

The RSPB is no stranger to rainforest conservation, having been working with our BirdLife International and government partners to protect and restore rainforests in West Africa and Indonesia for many years. So we have plenty of first-hand experience of the very real problem of deforestation driven by the production of agricultural crops and other commodities, whether for local or international consumption.

We therefore welcome the increasing interest from companies interested in taking steps to address their impacts on deforestation, as shown by the New York Declaration on Forests, the two-day conference this week in London, and various online debates .

The case of Sumatra is a text-book example of deforestation driven by growth in demand for commodities. In the year 1900 there was over 16 million hectares of lowland terra firma rainforest in Sumatra, in 2014 there is less than 500,000 hectares remaining. The rest of that previously forested land has been converted to oil palm or fast-growing trees for pulp and paper. This clearance continues today, with a mixture of legal and illegal deforestation and conversion of forest. This has led to Indonesia being the country with the highest rate of deforestation anywhere in the world.

But we’re trying to reverse that trend. In Sumatra, together with Burung Indonesia and BirdLife, we are managing 100,000hectares of previously-logged forest as the first-ever forest restoration concession in Indonesia; to protect the wildlife and people that depend on the forest, and restore the forest and the environmental services (such as water or carbon) that we benefit from. We called this initiative “Harapan Rainforest” from the Indonesian word meaning “hope”.

This is challenging work, which still faces the ever-present threat of illegal deforestation. It is also expensive. Some particular challenges are:

A lot of funding has been pledged for REDD and other work to stop deforestation by both governments and companies. However there is still a huge gap between the pledges and the funds that are flowing to work on the ground that is actually stopping deforestation. This needs to change as forests are still disappearing at an alarming rate, and initiatives such as Harapan and forest restoration that are making a real difference struggle to see funding pledges materialise;
Illegal clearance is a challenge everywhere in Indonesia, and more needs to be done to tackle issues such as clarity of land tenure as well as greater scrutiny by companies on their sourcing of commodities such as palm oil;
There is still a need for regulatory reform on requirements under licences to clear high value forest land for plant oil palm that lead to unnecessary legal deforestation, overlapping concession licences, and to remove barriers to investment in forest restoration licences;

But despite the challenges, our work has stimulated the idea that forests can be managed for restoration in Indonesia, and thus form an essential part of a wider landscape that can support wildlife and people. Taking such a landscape level view is essential if we are going to stop deforestation leading to forest protected areas essentially ending up as islands in a “sea” of other land-uses.

We therefore welcome initiatives from companies such as Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) that are now taking steps to address deforestation through their activities. We would encourage all companies to follow suit, and to take the larger view and look at how they can support not only initiatives such as Harapan Rainforest, but forest restoration more widely. APP have committed to restoring 1 million hectares, and we look forward to them implementing this commitment. At Harapan Rainforest we are demonstrating that it is possible to restore a rainforest; and if companies, government and NGOs work together there is real hope that we can turn this tide of deforestation.